I think I understand how you feel Jim as I've been in a similar...

I think I understand how you feel Jim as I've been in a similar place myself (though not due to stock losses). Croasian is right that obsessing over the issue isn't healthy but of course getting over it can be easier said than done. When I was younger I went through a period where I spent far too much time thinking about someone who had wronged me (quite egregiously). Regardless of how justified I was in feeling wronged I look back on that and see that it damaged me and not him. I also see that getting "justice" (revenge) wouldn't have solved anything. As the old saying goes "If you ride out seeking vengeance, dig two graves."

Which is not to say that Grech et al. shouldn't face jail time, perhaps they should. As Croasian said this is an example of an institutional problem. If companies fail in their obligations to shareholders (such as disclosure) then faith of investors in the share market will decline. A solution needs to be found and punitive measures against those who breach their obligations may be part of this. Two points about that though:
- Punishment should be against those who broke the law, not the company. By fining the company ASIC is punishing shareholders for a crime against shareholders. That makes no sense.
- The company stuffing up and losing massive amounts of shareholder money is part of the risk of investing, and yes that's easy to say if you haven't just lost your retirement savings.

That said on shorting: I'm not a person who has a problem with shorters as I think they provide a valuable service to the market. However I disagree that they provide justice in these scenarios. What they do is unofficially regulate overvalued stock prices, and while they may expose executives ripping off shareholders, said shonky executives tend to escape with a golden parachute.

While I like having short sellers in the market I will say that there are strong arguments against becoming one yourself.